FRS 001LL —
Sec. 001 — (1
unit) — CRN 73940— F 10:00-10:50 AM — 3 Wellman
Social Security Reforms
Instructor: Leon Wegge, Department of Economics, College of
Letters and
Science
Description: We study the history, the present
problems and the
range of possible reforms of Social Security. The goals of the seminar include:
Introduce the actuarial concept of intergenerational fairness.
Develop an understanding
of the (data, estimates) needed to calculate it. Where do we find
these data and
how do we estimate?
Format: We will have weekly readings of articles and
notes. Before
week five, students submit in writing their favored Social Security reform for
class discussion analysis. I will provide subsequent handouts related
to the actuarial
arithmetic of each reform. We will have a class vote to determine a
winning proposal
in week eight of the quarter. Each student submits a five to ten page
paper justifying
and/or criticizing the class preferred choice on the final day of
class. Grading:
Grade is based on class and office hour participation (25%), midterm proposal
(25%) and final paper (50%).
About the Instructor: Professor Leon Wegge is a retired member
of the faculty in the Department of Economics. For over 28 years he
taught courses
in (Econometrics) the art of making predictions in the world of
economics. Having
been trained in his college years in actuarial sciences, the recent
debates surrounding
Social Security Reform has increased his curiosity in the validity, reliability
of the long run predictions made by the Social Security Administration.